Lock screen is occasionally solid black except for mouse cursor after resuming from suspend

[Christopher Kyle Horton]

I have lately found that my screen will remain completely black except for the mouse cursor when I try to log back into my locked session after resuming my laptop from suspend. The cursor does change into a text entry cursor when I move it over the general area where the password entry box would be located, so I assume it's simply a display issue of some sort.

It's worth noting that this problem only occurs occasionally for me, and only when I resume my laptop from suspend after i.e. closing its lid for travel. If I let my laptop turn off and lock its screen on its own after some time while plugged directly into a wall socket, the problem does not occur then, no matter how many times it's allowed to do so.

I can still access a tty by hitting Ctrl+Alt+F1 when this occurs, at which point my only workaround I've found so far has been to restart the machine via the command line.

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A505-S6960.

A similar issue seems to have been asked by somebody else on AskUbuntu here: http://askubuntu.com/q/133720/18612

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: gnome-screensaver 3.4.1-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.37-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-24-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue May 8 17:03:09 2012
GnomeSessionIdleInhibited: No
GnomeSessionInhibitors: None
GsettingsGnomeSession:
 org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay uint32 600
 org.gnome.desktop.session session-name 'ubuntu'
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Alpha amd64 (20120201.1)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-screensaver
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
WindowManager: No value set for `/desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager'

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Steve Dodson (rhp997)]

Perhaps this is not the same issue (?), but issuing the command:

gnome-screensaver-command -l

occassionally leaves me with a black screen - even after numerous mouse clicks / key presses - and the cursor is not visible. When this happens, I am able to log back in by blindly typing my password and pressing <Enter> - just as if the "Lock screen" dialog was visible. Unlike the original post, my attempts to switch to a tty (e.g. Ctrl + Alt + F2) result in the same blank screen (i.e. no prompt for login username)..

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS / 3.2.0-23-generic-pae #36-Ubuntu

[hdb3-nic (kh1hv12-ubuntuone)]

I have seen this repeatedly on three different laptops (all lenovo/IBM - but of widely differing vintage).
It has been present since 12.04 release through the current day.
I work-around using ctl-alt-F1 and the sudo restart lightdm.
If someone wants to work on this and needs more information I can provide it - I am resetting lightdm several times most days!
this machine: lenovo x61s, 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 3.2.0-26-generic
i915 display driver, Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller

[Paskal (therlaup)]

This has happened to me as well on a Dell Precision T3400 desktop with Ubuntu 12.04 and GNOME 3.4.1 all 64 bits. I am using twinview with dual-monitor setup and an Nvidia card and drivers.

The bug has the same behavior as described above.

I noticed that it seems to only happen when I lock the system without having any window open.

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

Curious whether you have tried switching to a tty and JUST killing off gnome-screensaver as described here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/150537/black-screen-but-with-cursor-after-wake-up-from-suspend-to-ram

I am trying to figure out if my netbook is acting more like this bug or if it's the same as Bug #966744

[Corey O. (7pde)]

I am having the same problem on both my new asus zenbook prime and my old custom-built desktop. The problem exists in both gnome-classic and gnome-shell, so it is not gnome/unity/compiz specific. This is a pretty major bug as it sometimes causes me to lose my work. I should mention that both setups usually use dual monitors. I'm not sure if that makes any difference.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Hi Christopher. In case compiz is hung then a stack trace of the compiz process would be very helpful. To do this...

0. Download and keep a copy of the attached dstack script handy in your home directory.
Then when the hang occurs;
1. Switch to a VT (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and log in.
2. sudo ./dstack compiz > compizhang.txt
3. Kill/restart/recover any way you like (e.g. sudo restart lightdm)
4. Attach compizhang.txt to this bug.

[Corey O. (7pde)]

This bug appears to be related to the lock screen itself. I can suspend/resume or come out of monitor power-save mode just fine if I completely disable the lock screen. However, the bug happens to me if the lock screen is initialized for any reason (i.e. even if it's just a timeout without any suspend or power saving features). I can't be sure, but I don't think that any of the video drivers or APM features are at fault in this bug.

[Maakuth (markus-vuorio)]

I hit this with my Thinkpad X60 as well. Neither killing compiz nor gnome-screensaver solves it, only restarting lightdm will do. I'll have the dstack script when this happens again so I can get the stack trace for you.

[Maakuth (markus-vuorio)]

Here's the dstack output for gnome-screensaver as well. I can't distinguish by these outputs which of them is the culprit. Hopefully these help figure it out though.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Maakuth,

Comment #11 shows you are experiencing bug 966744. Please look at that one.

If Christopher replies with similar results then this bug will become a duplicate of that one.

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

Here's my compizhang.txt as requested in comment #8. My laptop is now running Quantal (fresh install from a daily image) and I just had this issue again today.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for gnome-screensaver (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[JeffV (jeff-launchpad-tanasity)]

12.10 64bit. Intel 4000 graphics. No gnome-screensaver; I took it off. Still happens. Gnome 3.6 on Ubuntu.

I suspect there could be two bugs: sometimes I can type the password blind, and get back in again. Other times I can't.